Adjust crop and rotation

The Develop module contains tools and controls for cropping and straightening photos. Lightroom Classic crop and straighten controls work by first setting a crop boundary, and then moving and rotating the image in relation to the crop boundary. Or, you can use more traditional crop and straighten tools and drag directly in the photo.

As you adjust the crop overlay or move the image, Lightroom Classic displays a grid of thirds within the outline to help you compose your final image. As you rotate an image, a finer grid appears to help you align to the straight lines in the image.

Press O to cycle through grid overlays
in the crop area. To display the grid only when cropping, choose
Tools > Tool Overlay > Auto Show. To turn
off the grid, choose Tools > Tool Overlay >
Never Show.

Crop to a specified aspect ratio

Select the Crop Overlay tool in
the tool strip.

The padlock icon in the tool drawer indicates and controls
whether the crop controls are constrained.

Choose an aspect ratio from the Aspect pop-up menu next
to the padlock. Choose Original to specify the photo’s original
aspect ratio. Choose Enter Custom to specify an aspect ratio that
is not listed.

Note:

Press Shift+A to select the Crop Overlay
tool with the last-used aspect ratio.

Lightroom Classic stores up to five custom crop ratios. If you create more than that, the older ones drop off the list.

Drag a crop handle to set the crop outline or drag with
the Crop Frame tool .

Note:

Press Shift as you drag a crop handle to
temporarily constrain to the current aspect ratio.

Switch crop orientation

Select the Crop Overlay tool in
the tool strip.

Drag in the photo to set the crop boundary.

Press X to change the orientation from landscape
to portrait or portrait to landscape.

Straighten a photo

Select the Crop Overlay tool in
the tool strip, and do one of the following:

Rotate the photo using the Angle slider.

Rotate the photo by moving the pointer outside a
corner crop handle to display the Rotate icon , and
then drag to rotate the image. The axis of rotation is the center
of the crop rectangle.

Select the Angle tool , and
then drag in the photo along a line that you want to be horizontal
or vertical.

Note:

Holding down Alt (Windows) or Option
(Mac OS) with the Straighten tool selected displays a grid
that helps you straighten the photo.

Clear or undo a crop or straighten
adjustment

Click Reset in the Crop Overlay tool
drawer.

Rotate or flip a photo in the Develop
module

To rotate a photo in 90-degree
increments, choose Photo > Rotate Left or Rotate Right.
To rotate a photo to less than 90 degrees, see Straighten
a photo. The photo rotates in a clockwise or counterclockwise
direction around its center point.

To flip a photo horizontally from front to back so that
you’re looking at a mirror image, choose Photo > Flip
Horizontal. Objects that appeared on the left side appear on the
right side, and vice versa. Text in the photo will show in reversed mirror
image.

To flip a photo vertically from front to back so that
you’re looking at a mirror image upside down, choose Photo >
Flip Vertical.

Sharpening and noise reduction

Sharpen a photo

You sharpen photos at two stages in the Lightroom Classic workflow: as you view and edit photos, and when you print or export them. Sharpening is part of the camera default that Lightroom Classic automatically applies to your photos.

When Lightroom Classic exports, prints, or rasterizes a photo for editing in an external editor, the sharpen setting for the image is applied to the rendered file.

In the Develop module, zoom in on the photo to
at least 100%.

Drag in the Navigator panel to see an area of the photo
that highlights the effect of the sharpening adjustment.

In the Detail panel, adjust any of the following Sharpening
settings:

Amount

Adjusts edge definition. Increase the Amount value to
increase sharpening. A value of zero (0) turns off sharpening. In
general, set Amount to a lower value for cleaner images. The adjustment
locates pixels that differ from surrounding pixels based on the
threshold you specify and increases the pixels’ contrast by the
amount you specify.

Radius

Adjusts the size of the details that sharpening is applied
to. Photos with very fine details may need a lower radius setting.
Photos with larger details may be able to use a larger radius. Using
too large a radius generally results in unnatural-looking results.

Detail

Adjusts how much high-frequency information is sharpened
in the image and how much the sharpening process emphasizes edges.
Lower settings primarily sharpen edges to remove blurring. Higher
values are useful for making the textures in the image more pronounced.

Masking

Controls an edge mask. With a setting of zero (0), everything
in the image receives the same amount of sharpening. With a setting
of 100, sharpening is mostly restricted to those areas near the
strongest edges.

Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) while
dragging a slider to see the areas being affected (white) versus
the areas masked out (black).

Note:

To turn off
sharpening, set the Amount slider to zero (0) or click the Detail
panel On/Off icon .

Video tutorial: Sharpen an image

Reduce image noise

Image noise is extraneous visible artifacts that degrade image quality. Image noise includes luminance (grayscale) noise, which makes an image look grainy, and chroma (color) noise, which is usually visible as colored artifacts in the image. Photos taken with high ISO speeds or less-sophisticated digital cameras can have noticeable noise.

Moving the Color slider to the right reduces chroma noise
(lower right). Notice fewer color pixels compared to the original
(upper right).

(Optional) Zoom in on the photo to at least 1:1
to better see image noise and the effects of the sliders.

Drag the 1:1 image preview in the Detail panel of the
Develop module to see the area of the photo that looks grainy or
displays colored artifacts.

In the Noise Reduction area of the Detail panel, adjust
any of the sliders. The first three sliders affect luminance noise.
The last two sliders affect color noise.

Luminance

Reduces luminance noise.

Detail

Controls the luminance noise threshold. Useful for very
noisy photos. Higher values preserve more detail but may produce
noisier results. Lower values produce cleaner results but may also
remove some detail.

Contrast

Controls luminance contrast. Useful for very noisy photos.
Higher values preserve contrast but may produce noisy blotches or
mottling. Lower values produce smoother results but may also have
less contrast.

Color

Reduces color noise.

Detail

Controls the color noise threshold. Higher values protect
thin, detailed color edges but may result in color speckling. Lower
values remove color speckles but may result in color bleeding.

Note:

To turn off noise reduction, set the
Sharpening Amount slider to zero or click the Detail panel On/Off
icon .

Video tutorial: Remove image noise in Lightroom Classic

Correct lens distortion and adjust
perspective

About lens distortion

Camera lenses can exhibit different types of defects at certain focal lengths, f-stops, and focus distances. You can correct for these apparent lens distortions using the Lens Corrections panel of the Develop module.

Vignetting causes the edges of an image, especially the corners, to be darker than the center. It is particularly noticeable when the photo contains a subject that is supposed to be an even shade or tone, such as the sky in a landscape image.

Barrel distortion causes straight lines to appear to bow outward.

Pincushion distortion causes straight lines to appear to bend inward.

Chromatic aberration Chromatic aberration appears as a color fringe along the edges of objects. It is caused by the failure of the lens to focus different colors to the same spot, aberrations in sensor microlenses, and by flare. Lightroom Classic provides a checkbox to automatically correct blue-yellow and red-green fringes, also known as lateral chromatic aberration.

Lightroom 4.1 and later provides slider controls to correct purple/magenta and green aberration (axial chromatic aberration). Axial chromatic aberration often occurs in images made with large apertures.

Original photo with blue/yellow fringing (left), and after
fixing chromatic aberration (lower right).

Correct image perspective and lens
flaws automatically

Video tutorial: Lens correction in Lightroom Classic

The Profile options in the Lens Corrections
panel of the Develop module correct distortions in common camera
lenses. The profiles are based on Exif metadata that identifies
the camera and lens that captured the photo, and the profiles compensate
accordingly.

Lens profiles are saved in the following locations:

Mac OS

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/LensProfiles/1.0/

Windows Vista or Windows 7

C:\ProgramData\Adobe\CameraRaw\LensProfiles\1.0\

Note:

The lens profiles that are available in the Lens Corrections panel depend on whether you’re adjusting a raw or a non-raw file. For more information and a list of supported lenses, see the Adobe Support article Supported lenses.

In the Lens Corrections panel of the Develop module,
click Profile and select Enable Profile Corrections.

To change the profile, select a different Make, Model,
or Profile.

Note:

Some cameras have only one lens, and some lenses
have only one profile.

Customize the correction by adjusting the Amount sliders:

Distortion

The default value 100 applies 100% of the distortion
correction in the profile. Values over 100 apply greater correction
to the distortion; values under 100 apply less correction to the
distortion.

Vignetting

The default value 100 applies 100% of the vignetting
correction in the profile. Values over 100 apply greater correction
to vignetting; values under 100 apply less correction to vignetting.

Remove red-green and blue-yellow
color shifts

Remove global purple and green
fringes with the eyedropper

Press the spacebar to pan and zoom into the fringe area.
(Setting your default zoom to 2:1 or 4:1 helps you view the fringe
colors.)

Click purple and green fringe colors.

The sliders are automatically adjusted for that color.
If you click a color outside of the purple or green hue ranges,
you’ll see an error message.

Note:

The end of the
eyedropper will change to purple or green if the color under the eyedropper
is within the purple or green hue ranges.

Remove global purple/magenta and
green fringes

Adjust the purple and green Amount slider.
The higher the amount, the more color defringing.

Take care not apply an adjustment that affects purple
or green objects in your image.

You can adjust the purple
or green hue range affected by the Amount slider using the Purple
Hue and the Green Hue sliders. Drag either end point control to expand
or decrease the range of affected colors. Drag between the end point controls
to move the hue range. The minimum space between end points is 10 units.
The default spacing for the green sliders is narrow to protect green/yellow image
colors, like foliage.

Note:

You can protect edges of purple and
green objects using local adjustment brush. See Remove local color
fringes.

Press the Alt/Option key as you drag any of the
sliders to help visualize the adjustment. The fringe color becomes
neutral as you drag to remove the color.

Remove local color fringes

Local brush and gradient adjustments remove
fringes of all colors.

Note:

For best results, perform any Transform
lens corrections before applying local color fringe adjustments.

Adjust the Defringe slider. A plus value removes the
color fringe. Minus values protect image areas from defringing that
you apply globally. Minus 100 protects the area from any defringing.
For example, applying a strong global purple defringe may desaturate
or alter edges of purple objects in your image. Painting with Defringe
-100 over those areas will protect them and keep them at their original
color.

Note:

Local defringe is available for Process 2012 only.

Correct image perspective and lens
flaws manually

Transform and vignette corrections can be
applied to original and cropped photo edges. Lens vignettes adjust
exposure values to brighten dark corners.

In the Lens Corrections panel, click Manual.

Under Transform, adjust any of the following:

Distortion

Drag to the right to correct barrel distortion and straighten
lines that bend away from the center. Drag to the left to correct
pincushion distortion and straighten lines that bend toward the
center.

Corrects for camera tilt. Uses the center of the original,
uncropped photo as the axis of rotation.

Scale

Adjusts the image scale up or down. Helps to remove empty
areas caused by perspective corrections and distortions. Displays
areas of the image that extend beyond the crop boundary.

Constrain crop

Constrains the crop to the image area so that gray border
pixels are not included in the final photo.

Under Lens Vignetting adjust either or both of the following:

Amount

Move the Amount slider to the right (positive values)
to lighten the corners of the photo. Move the slider to the left
(negative values) to darken the corners of the photo.

Midpoint

Drag the Midpoint slider to the left (lower value) to
apply the Amount adjustment to a larger area away from the corners.
Drag the slider to the right (higher value) to restrict the adjustment
to an area closer to the corners.

Vignette, grain, and dehaze effects

Apply a postcrop vignette

To apply a dark or light vignette for artistic effect to a photo, use the Post-Crop Vignetting options in the Effects panel. A postcrop vignette can be applied to a cropped or uncropped photo.

Lightroom Classic postcrop vignette styles adaptively adjust the exposure of the cropped image, preserving the original image contrast and creating a more visually pleasing effect.

In the Post-Crop Vignetting area of the Effects
panel of the Develop module, choose an option from the Style menu:

Highlight Priority

Enables highlight recovery but can lead to color shifts
in darkened areas of a photo. Suitable for photos with bright image
areas such as clipped specular highlights.

(Highlight Priority and Color Priority only) Controls
the degree of highlight contrast preserved when Amount is negative.
Suitable for photos with small highlights, such as candles and lamps.

Simulate film grain

The Grain section of the Effects panel has controls for
creating a stylistic effect reminiscent of particular film stocks.
You can also use the Grain effect to mask resampling artifacts.

Together, the Size and Roughness controls determine the character of
the grain. Check grain at varying zoom levels to ensure that the
character appears as desired.

No grain applied (top); grain applied (bottom).

Amount

Controls the amount of grain applied to the image. Drag to
the right to increase the amount. Set to zero to disable grain.

Size

Controls grain particle size. At sizes of 25 or greater,
blue is added to make the effect look better with noise reduction.

Roughness

Controls the regularity of the grain. Drag to the left to
make the grain more uniform; drag to the right to make the grain
more uneven.

Dehaze

Note:

Beginning with Lightroom Classic CC 7.3 (April 2018 release), the Dehaze slider has been moved from the Effects panel to the Basic panel of Develop module. See Set overall color saturation.

Lightoom Classic lets you easily decrease or increase the amount of haze or fog in a photograph. Once you have made basic adjustments to the photograph, switch to the Effects panel of the Develop module and adjust the Dehaze slider control.

Reduce the amount of haze or fog in a photograph

Amount

Controls the amount of haze in a photograph. Drag to the right to remove haze; drag to the left to add haze.

Note: Dehaze is also available as a local adjustment. While working with the Radial Filter, Graduated Filter, or the Adjustment Brush, adjust the Dehaze slider control. For more information, see Apply local adjustments and Use the Radial Filter tool.